September 29th, Beijing Time: The 27th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) will feature a dramatic battle between Shanghai Seaport and relegated Nantong Jiyun.
In the last round of matches, Shanghai Seaport lost the chain once again, losing 1:2 to Chengdu Rongcheng, and suffered a double kill from their rivals this season. The only lucky thing is that Shanghai's biggest rival for the title, Shandong Luneng, also lost the chain in this round, and even 0.:0 was forced to draw by the average Dalian Ren. Thus, after the first 26 rounds, Shanghai Harbor still leads the Chinese Super League table with 8 points. Four rounds of the Chinese Super League are about to be settled. As long as Shanghai Seaport can win two games, they can take the Super League trophy in advance.
Undoubtedly, facing the average Nantong Jiyun is the perfect opportunity for Shanghai Port to grab points. In order to properly capitalize on this opportunity, head coach Javier is bound to sacrifice as many elite starters as possible. Here's a brief prediction of the starting lineup that Shanghai might put out for this match.
In the goalkeeping position, naturally Yan Junling will be the main keeper for Shanghai Harbour; in the backline, Javier should continue to sacrifice his most commonly used 4 defenders formation, with the 4 defenders of Lv Wenjun, Jiang Guangtai, Zhang Linmiao and Wang Shenchao likely to get the start. Among them, Jiang Guangtai and Zhang Linmiao will play as the double center backs while Lu Wenjun and Wang Shenchao will play as the wing backs from left to right.
In the midfield, not surprisingly, the main back of the Hong Kong center back responsible for intercepting and stealing will be the meritorious veteran Cai Huikang; the former Evergrande iron waist Xu Xin is supposed to partner with Cai Huikang to form a double back combination. In front of the double back, Brazilian ace Oscar is naturally the offensive commander in front of the field, and Matias Vargas and Issa Caron are the two ace foreign clubs that form an agreement with him.
In the front line, there is no doubt that Wu Lei, the No. 1 local striker, will be the one to charge forward for Shanghai Harbor. Li Shenglong, the king of Shanghai Harbor's songwriters, will remain on the bench.
To summarize, the final projected starting lineup for SIPG against Nantong Jiyun is: Yan Junling; Lu Wenjun, Zhang Linmiao, Jiang Guangtai and Wang Shenchao; Xu Xin and Cai Huikang; Oscar, Matias Vargas and Issa Caron; Wu Lei
